Not to be a killjoy, but what’s up with the turnovers?

The Spurs are back home now after what can only be described as a successful two-game road swing. They got a pair of victories, saw Brazilian center Tiago Splitter make his long-awaited NBA debut and ended a recent string of futility in Phoenix.

Now, about all those turnovers.

In the two victories over the Clippers and Suns, the Spurs committed a combined 41 turnovers, which their opponents cashed in for a combined 47 points. That’s usually a prescription for disaster on the road, but to the Spurs’ credit, they were able to overcome those mistakes.

Going forward, however, the Spurs would prefer not to be the gift that keeps on giving.

Typically, the Spurs have been one of the best in the league at taking care of the ball during the Gregg Popovich era.

A popular explanation for the Spurs’ general sloppiness early this season has been the addition of three rookies in the rotation, the most for a Spurs team in two decades. Gary Neal, James Anderson and Tiago Splitter, however, aren’t the ones committing the turnovers.

Against Phoenix, the Spurs coughed up eight in the first quarter alone, with seven coming from starting players. The Spurs’ turnover leader on the trip: Tim Duncan (10).

“Besides the rookies, it’s us too,” Ginobili said. “We can’t blame the rookies. We have to blame the guys who have been here the most.”

For the young season, the Spurs are averaging 17.25 turnovers per game, tied for fourth-most in the NBA. They were able to overcome their gift-giving against Clippers, because the Clippers are still the Clippers.

In Phoenix, the Spurs were able to survive their epidemic of miscues A) by playing their best defensive game of the season, and B) by being opportunistic with the Suns’ turnovers. They forced 13 — 10 fewer than Phoenix received — but scored just four fewer points off them than the Suns did (23-19).

In the future, the Spurs would prefer not to keep living this way. They’d rather just stop turning the ball over.